Method of bracing and lashing riprap and jetty work



(No Model.)

W. H. HARRELSON. METHOD OF BRAGING AND LASHING RIPRAP AND JETTY WORK.

No. 554,777. Patented Feb. 18, 1896.

Unrrnn STATES PATE T Prion.

IVILLIAIWI H. I-IARRELSON, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

METHOD OF BRACING AND LASHING RIPRAP AND JETTY WORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,777, dated February 18, 1896.

Application filed June 21, 1895. $eria1 No. 3,545. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. HARREL- SON, of Kansas City, Jackson county, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Riprap and Jetty Work, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to riprap and jetty work, and my object is to provide a strong, durable and reliable structure at a minimum of expense and trouble, which can be successfully projected in a comparatively short time into the swiftest and deepest of streams, can be used to great advantage to prevent inundations or for all of the various purposes specified in the Patent No. 426,807, issued to me April 29, 1890, on riprap and jetty work, on which this is designed particularly as an improvement.

To this end the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a plan view of riprap and jetty work braced and lashed according to my invention, as being projected into a stream or river. Fig. 2 represents a perspective view of a portion of the same to illustrate clearly the method of bracing and lashing the piles or piers together and of lashing the apron-timbers to certain of said piles. Fig. 3 represents a horizontal section to show more clearly the relation between said piles and the apron-timbers, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the same.

In the said drawings, A and B designate parallel series of piles, which are driven into the bed of the river or stream in the usual manner and are disposed according to the Work to be done, and which is explained in the patent hereinbefore referred to. Each pair of piles A and B are provided in their rigid inclined braces, are bars or timbers C. To prevent the piles from moving farther apart I lash them together by means of flexible connections in the shape, preferably, of wire cables D. These cables are first looped around the opposing pairs of piles A and B and arranged horizontally in a plane, preferably, just above the upper ends of the braces O, as shown in dotted lines at the near end of Fig. 2. Levers in the shape of stakes or bars E are then fitted through said wire loops D at their middle, and preferably project through said loops a much greater distance at one end than at the other, so as to provide practically handles at one side of said loops, which are grasped and rotated a sufficient number of times to tension the cable and thus lash the piles firmly and securely together. By thus manipulating said levers the loops are twisted tightly at opposite sides of said stakes or levers, as shown at d d, and said stakes or levers are clamped firmly and securely between said twisted portions.

: In manipulating the levers, as the handle ends would be too long to pass the braces 0 below Without contact, they are twisted laterally when they are rotated, as indicated by dotted lines, Fig. 2, so that they may pass freely above said braces, and when the piles are lashed and braced as tightly as required the handle ends of said levers are brought against the braces, which thus resist the tendency of the loops to untwist themselves under the strain to which they are subjected.

The piles B above their connection with the piles A are also braced and lashed together in a similar manner. In this case the braces F are preferably arranged horizontally and have their opposite ends fitting in notches b in the opposing faces of the piles. In this case, also instead of employing a single loop to connect each pair of piles I employ a single long loop, which shall embrace the opposite sides of every pile B, as indicated by dotted lines, Fig. 2, which also embraces or loops around the off side of the pile farthest from the bank of the river from which the riprap or jetty is projected and which at its opposite end is attached in any suitable manner to an anchor H, secured in the bank of the river in any suitable or preferred manner. I then employ stakes or levers I, the same essentially as the stakes or levers E, to twist the wire between each pair of piles B, as shown at g, and ten sion the same so as to lash the piles firmly together and clamp them against the braces F, the handle end of said stakes or levers being then arranged against the braces F to prevent the untwistin g of the wire, as before explained with reference to the levers E. That portion of the loop which extends from the inner pile l) to the anchor will be preferably twisted or cabled for its full length, as shown at g. Thus it will be seen that I have provided a strong, rigid and durable structure, which the stream cannot displace when once properly secured, as a foundation for my riprap or jetty work-a structure which resists strain in any conceivable direction.

The apron consists of the parallel timbers J, arranged the same distance apart as the piles B, and the longitudinally-extending cables K, which connect the timbers J and are secured firmly thereto by means of staples L or in any other suitable manner. The ends of the apron wires or cables are anchored in any suitable manner, at the inner end, preferably, by converging the same and then extending them in the form of a single large cable through a cut in the bank to a suitable anchor M.

The timbers J of the apron are fitted with relation to the piles B, as shown, and to prevent any longitudinal movement of said apron-timbers they are segmentally notched, as shown at j, at their point of engagement with said piles. (Shown most clearly in Fig. 3.) I then connect said piles and said aprontimbers by means of wire loops 0, which fit in the notches b of said piles, so as to prevent any vertical movement of the same, and embrace the upper and lower sides of the apron-timbers. \Vhen first fitted around said apron-timbers they embrace the same loosely, as shown at o, to receive the ends of stakes or pins, (not shown,) whereby said wires may be twisted tightly to form the loops 0, and, thereby taking up all of the slack in said wires, lash or clamp the piles B and the timbers J firmly and securely together, and yet permit the apron to have a slight pivotal movement, the pivot being at its points of connection with the piles 13. This is done to permit the lower end of the apron to settle gradually, as weighted filling of any suitable description is placed upon it, and embed itself more deeply 5 and securely in the river-bed.

While I have described and illustrated, for

clearness, the flexible connections between the various piles and timbers as of singlestrand wires or cables, it is to be understood, of course, that I may and perhaps will use a large number of wires or cables bunched or twisted together in any suitable or preferred manner in lieu of such single-strand wires or cables, the number or thickness of the cables depending upon the strength of the current and other circumstances.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A riprap and jetty work, comprising a series of vertical piles, a second series of vertical piles arranged parallel with the first series, and braced from and lashed thereto in any suitable manner, rigid braces between each pair of piles in the first-named series, twisted wire loops connecting said piles and anchored at their opposite ends, and stakes or levers carried by said twisted wire loops between each pair of piles, and bearing at their handle ends against said braces, substantially as set forth.

2. A riprap and jetty work, comprising a suitable framework consisting of vertical piles braced apart and lashed together in any suitable manner, an apron anchored at .its opposite ends from longitudinal movement, and wire loops embracing said apron-timbers at their upper ends and certain of said piles; said wire loops being twisted to tension the same and clamp said timbers firmly together, substantially as set forth.

3. A riprap and jetty work, comprising a suitable framework eonsistin g of vertical piles braced apart and lashed together in any suitable manner, an apron anchored at its opposite ends from longitudinal movement, consisting of longitudinally-extending cables or wires and tra1isversely-extending and parallel timbers provided near their upper ends with notches which engage certain of said vertical piles, and wire loops embracing said aprontimbers and notches in said vertical piles, and twisted to clamp said piles and timbers firmly together, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM ll. IIARRELSON.

\Vitnesses:

G. Y. THORPE, M. R. REMLEY. 

